English Muffin Bread

A recipe for quick English muffin bread that is both crisp and tender. A perfect addition to breakfast with a slather of butter or jam.

Today the recipe Gods were against me. First, I wanted to make something with potatoes. But as luck would have it, if potatoes had dates… well… these would have been well beyond their acceptable sell by and eat by dates. So clearly that option was out. Next up was a breakfast recipe, full of seasonal flavor… and to use up some apples that are nearing their final days. But again, I ran into a snag. No softened butter! I even had a dessert in mind but for other reasons that wasn’t going to work out either.

And yes, I realize I could have gone to the store for new potatoes or any other missing ingredients but I wanted to stick with what I had on hand and do my best to not trudge out in the cold rainy weather with two kids in tow. That’ll have to wait for another day.

I guess in the end the stars had aligned for me to make something that’s been on my list for quite a while. Saved in my binder, a recipe for English muffin bread. It was the perfect and best semi-quick recipe in a pinch. Not only is this so simple to whip up but the flavor is perfect. The outside is crunchy while the inside is tender. Toast up a few slices and slather on butter or jam.

If you’ve been thinking about making English muffin bread, stop waiting and go do it. It’s so good!

Ingredients:

Directions:

Lightly grease an 8x4 inch loaf pan and sprinkle with cornmeal.

In a large bowl combine dry ingredients. Heat up milk to 120 degrees. With mixer on low, slowly pour in milk. Turn mixer up to medium speed, continuing to mix until dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl.

Lightly grease a rubber spatula, and your hands if necessary. Transfer dough to prepared loaf pan, spreading out into all corners. Lightly sprinkle with cornmeal and cover with plastic wrap. Allow to rise in a warm location for 90 minutes. Remove plastic prior to baking.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Bake for 30 minutes. Allow bread to cool in pan before turning into a wire rack or cutting board.

Toast slices and serve with butter or jam. Store remaining bread in an airtight container.

EEEEK!! I know you are totally going to laugh at me, but I’m so excited for this bread! I saw a version a long, long time ago, before pinterest, totally forgot and now it’s back in my life!! Woohoo!! I can finally make this deliciousness!

I just made English Muffin bread for the first time last week. Now I have it for breakfast every day! Reminded that I loved apple butter on muffins when I was a kid; I decided to make apple butter but didn’t have enough apples. I’m not one to run to the grocery store for every little ingredient either so I appreciate how you punted…and I did the same.

While I love the bread; the big love that came from that day is the cranberry apple butter that came about because I did have apples AND cranberries. I loved it so much I also made 16 jars for holiday gifts; now it is going to be hard to pry those babies out of my hands!

My recipe did not include baking soda and I was OK with that because of our altitude but I’m trying a bit of it next time…I do believe my nooks…or at least my crannies, could have been a bit bigger. It is so yummy isn’t it?

Hi, Rachel! I am hooked!
I found this recipe on Pinterest and made it the next day! Delicious bread I ate every morning! Now, less than a week later, I got brave and attempted to make English muffins with it!

I spooned the dough out onto greased and cornmeal-ed parchment paper on a cookie sheet, let them rise for the same 90 minutes, and then baked them for 12 minutes. My oven runs a little hot, so it may take longer in someone else’s oven. My only complaint with this attempt was that they were a little flat–more like those bagel thins than English muffins, although still full of nooks and crannies! I split them with a fork after they were cool enough to handle. I think I will try it in a muffin tin next time and see what happens!

Thank you for this great recipe!!

Rachel — May 16th, 2015 @ 7:55 am

So glad you enjoyed the bread! Such a fun experiment to try turning the same batter into English muffins! :)

PS: for Rose: I didn’t have cornmeal on hand when I made the bread (got it to do the muffins though). I did happen to have grits on hand (I live in Texas!) and that made the bottoms super crunchy! It was…interesting…not bad, but interesting….I am one of those people that just tries stuff willy-nilly in the kitchen! Grits are corn after all! I think with nothing it just wouldn’t have the same texture that you expect from an English muffin.

Just stumbled across your blog while doing the daily pinterest procrastination … I am so happy to have found your site as most beautiful looking baking I find on Pinterest is American and everybody seems to use a lot of prepackaged goods like Cresent Rolls and Yellow Box Cake that we don’t have here in Australia, and the alternatives I have researched taste pretty ordinary. So thankyou for using real ingredients which are better for my family!
Great blog… my new place to come and procrastinate instead of doing work … ;)

Rachel — June 14th, 2015 @ 8:41 am

I’m so glad you found me! I hope you enjoy the bread (and many more recipes)! :)